Components of the Membrane Current in Guinea-Pig Inner Hair Cells

Abstract

Movement of a hair cell’s stereociliary bundle results in the generation of a receptor potential. The shape of this receptor potential is not only determined by the transducer current and the passive electrical properties of the cell (capacitance and input impedance) but also by time- and voltage-dependent currents if these are activated in the membrane potential range of the receptor potential. Such time- and voltage-dependent currents have been described in hair cells isolated from the bullfrog’s sacculus (Lewis and Hudspeth, 1983) and amphibian papilla (Roberts, Robles and Hudspeth, 1986), the chick’s vestibulum (Ohmori, 1984) and the turtle’s cochlea (Art and Fettiplace, 1987).